Romney Scores Big Win; Press Fails to Notice

Mitt Romney won a crushing victory Tuesday, winning twice as many states as Rick Santorum and more that two and half times as many delegates, but his triumph is being portrayed in headlines across the nation as sign of weakness and failure.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Romney picked up 211 delegates while taking six states, bringing his total delegate count to 415. Santorum won in three states and added only 84 delegates to bring his total to 176.

Romney scored a huge upset in Ohio, coming from way back to take a politically diverse state that is representative of the type of place he’ll need to win to beat President Obama.

Romney is being widely panned by the press for an “inability to close the deal,” and yet the description seems far more apt for Santorum, who now has blown huge leads in the most critical contests of recent weeks, Ohio and Michigan. If anything, the more voters look at Santorum, the more concerned they become and less likely they are to sign on the dotted line.

Worse for Santorum, he will continue for the foreseeable future to split the most conservative votes with Newt Gingrich – who stays in after winning Georgia – and with Ron Paul, who would remain in the race until 2018 if he could. And Romney has a war chest that will swamp Santorum in the upcoming air wars for closely contested states.

And yet, despite all the evidence Romney largely vanquished his rivals Tuesday night, here are some of the headlines this morning:

All reporting is now sports reporting. Reporters love a battle and they love to go on TV and rave about how exciting everything is. And editors seek a bracing and never-ending storyline because it draws readers and ultimately pleases their corporate bosses, who want to sell papers and generate pageviews.

The headline “Romney Scores Six Wins and Continues Methodical Drive Toward Nomination” is just not going to drive eyeballs to your story.

And reporters also tend to be moderate to liberal. Bloodletting among Republicans at some level is agreeable to many of them. I have to believe that if this was Obama instead of Romney, the stories would be about the growing inevitability of Obama’s nomination.

That Romney is in all likelihood on the march toward nomination will probably soon become too apparent for any serious journalist to deny. At that point, for the reasons listed above, we will begin to hear feverish talk about the prospects for a third party candidacy.

Couple weeks ago I saw Megyn Kelly, Hannity etc. discredit Santorum’s win as beauty contest… over and over, they kept saying “beauty contest”. Why is it not a beauty contest when Romney wins primaries that are non-binding?

I watched the election returns. Couldn’t believe all the analysis – bottom line, Romney won 6 states; just because he isn’t appealing to the ultra conservative and Tea Partiers (supposedly) he isn’t relating?????? I have attended a couple of Tax Day tea party rallies and I have been a Romney supported all along. You do have to be able to beat President Obama and Santorum and Gingrich simply can’t do that. I’ll take my chances with Romney and the pressure he will be under to make some major stabs at changing the direction.

Despite all of this and the pundits – most people aren’t paying any attention until the primary comes to their state. I also agree that Krauthammer is a glass half empty guy – used to love to listen to his analysis – not so much now.

I totally agree…..Mitt has it all…and the only reason hes not getting the so called ultra conservatives is because those people are also evangelicals which a bunch are still bigots…which the pundits never bring up.

Hmmm? Let’s see… Maybe you could provide us with FACTS… something liberals are generally opposed to… to back up your theory that he didn’t get much support. Of that 11-milliion, what percentage of that population is under the age of 18? Of those that are of voting age, what percentage of the Ohio population is registered to vote? Suddenly, I’ll wager, that number is no where close to your 11-million, but hey your theory sure sounds good, at least to the non-thinking left or anti-Romney right. Sound bites over facts! Unfortunately too many of our voting public makes up their mind that way.

“Liberals” and “non-thinking left” and “anti-Romney right”. Love it! Speaking of sound bites, you managed to type an entire post consisting of just that! Hypocrisy is indeed a funny thing. As an aside, it would be “make up their mind” not “makes up their mind”. You should proofread before questioning the “thinking” of others. Just sayin’. And as one more aside…the GOP nominee is usually selected through the oh-so easily accomplished brainwashing of its sheepish constituency. Again, just sayin’.

Romney has me worried. A Presidential candidate does not have the luxury of basically saying “No Comment” when asked to comment on the top stories of the day. Romney sloughed off questions regarding Netanyahu’s speech at AIPAC and the Fluke controversy. Not a smart move in either case.

I hate to say it, Keith….but, IMO, Obama is on cruise control! If the polls are correct, he has double digit leads in most of the battleground states. The fact that this primary is dragging on and on and on is not helping! I hope Gingrich does not pull a Huckabee by hanging around until the last minute – he needs to go – now!

This is EXCATLY the point: “Romney is being widely panned by the press for an “inability to close the deal,” and yet the description seems far more apt for Santorum, who now has blown huge leads in the most critical contests of recent weeks, Ohio and Michigan. If anything, the more voters look at Santorum, the more concerned they become and less likely they are to sign on the dotted line.”

If Romney is so weak, why can’t Santorum, Paul, or Gingrich close the deal? This primary has become ANYONE BUT Santorum, Paul, or Gingrich because each are weak. The common thread among the three? They OPINE way to much, and search for (mindless) sycophants!

You read too much into his “no comment”. as much as it pains hims to do so, he has to show deference to the President when it comes to foreign affairs. Obama may be a fool, but he is still the person who represents us to foreign powers. Our choice is to get the fool out of office, but that isn’t Romney’s choice. His hope is that we will want to replace Obama with him. ABO2012

Good grief, some of the absolute dumbest people I have seen on an internet forum in some time are out in this thread. How in the name of all that is good did you people even learn to operate a computer. What scares me is that you people actually have a vote in who will be the leader of this country. All of the candidates are clowns and the incumbent is no better, but come on, can you people make the first cogent post? Something other than brainwashed, nonsensical, hyperbolic rhetoric and propaganda. Form a freaking reasoned thought of your own. Please!

So true re: Santorum. I am one of those people that on second look I could not throw my support behind him. I think is ‘every day guy’ veneer would slip once in office. I do not understand that it is the Old Guard Republicans that don’t want Romney either as they think he is too liberal, and yet do we want people idolizing a Repulican candidate like Obama was worshipped by the Dems? Then we Independents and Republicans would be just as ridiculous as the Dems who bow at the Obama alter. We want a work horse in the White House, not another ‘Rock Star’.

It’s not that he’s liberal. What scares the bejezzus out of the Republican Powers-that-Be is that Southern/Bible-Belt voters would refuse to vote for Mitt and would either stay at home or vote third party instead. When the GOP leaders do the Election Day math, they are worried about a 2012 Ross Perot.

Republicans would no longer be able to count on winning IN THE Bible Belt states – not because they’re more ‘Conservative’ than Romney, but because they’re Evangelicals and they’d rather ‘vote their consciences’ even if that risks four more years of Obama. The thought of a Mormon in the White House is simply unconscionable to a large segment of the US population.

It’s not that Mitt is too liberal – It’s simply that he’s too Mormon and that could cost the GOP several ‘gimme’ states in November.

I am a Southern Baptist and unlike some of my church friends I lived in a city with a large Mormon population. Some of my best friends were Mormons. My parents were very active in our Baptist church but did not object to me being friends with and sometimes going to church with my Mormon friends. They did not drink alcohol, only decaf tea and soft drinks. They were family oriented and did not try to convert me. So WHAT is wrong with a Mormon President??? Mitt Romney is a very decent man who has a no skeletons in his closet (like Clinton, Kennedy to name a few). Romney is only interested in helping the american people get jobs and take this country bake from a president who I believe hates this country.

Thank you for being open-minded. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the South have decided to have their minds closed about a good, Christian religion. They see “Mormon” and immediately think that he might have us drinking the poisoned kool-aid of a fanatic.

As you have rightly stated, I and my fellow “Mormons” are not fanatical (well, most), and we live normal, Christian lives. Romney is a good example, but he is not running for Pastor in Chief, but President. He knows religion’s place in politics in the USA.

Evangelical pastors have poisoned the well. For many years the Mormon church outpaced other churches in growth. Many of those converts came from the ranks of evangelicals. Religion is a business and the pastors don’t like the competition stealing the flock and their $money$ that would otherwise help them build their megachurches and live like kings, while keeping the parishoners in bondage to man. Sounds just like the democrats plan. So the pastors organized counter-cult ministries to rail against the Mormons and scare their sheep-like members to keep them in-line. Can’t have someone think for themselves can we? They control their member by fear.

If the press and the vote count are to be believed, many evangelicals would rather President Obama is re-elected and has the opportunity to appoint pro-abortion Supreme Court justices than ever vote for a * gasp * Mormon. This tells me that they are willing to sacrifice millions of innocent unborn on the alter of their dogma. This level of seething hatred will eventually consume them (and their dogma) until they are left standing before whatever God they worship, trying in vain to explain why they essentially went along with human sacrifice.

If you are motivated by hate, you are blinded to hope. I sincerely hope that clear-thinking evangelicals like SunFun will see that they share common values with Mormons and set aside their fears for the good of the country.

Hey Chip, you idiot! There were a large number of democrats voting for Santorum in Ohio. It was reported on every major news network. Ohio’s primary, like Michigan, is open. Please don’t bother knowing the facts before resorting to name calling.

That’s exactly right. Dems helped set this up. They had hoped Santorum would win in Ohio since they had some of their goons voting for him instead of Obama. I imagine they were disappointed when Romney pulled off the victory.

The majority were Repubs! The Dem votes were basically insignificant. How much did your guy win by, 1%, even if 3% of Dems voted in Ohio for Rick your guy’s win would still be narrow. Dems voted in Michigan and didn’t Romney still win?? The fact is conservatives are just not feeling this guy cause they think he is a fraud. Dems participation in these prims is not affecting the real problem that u are just so blind to see, there is a real rift in the Repub party because they believe that this guy is not genuine, idiot!!

Finally, someone with common sense. I am an evangelical Christian and will vote for Romney. But we have to be realistic in the South. Some of these people just won’t vote for a Mormon, even if he was Super Conservative. Hopefully, they won;t sit home and cry after the election about why we lost. ABO (anybody but Obama) We do have to worry about the influence of Rush, Laura, and Levine who berate Romney daily. (like they did to McCain) Our country would have been in better shape today, if MCCain would have won. Lets get behind whoever gets the nomination.

McCain is the same clown as GWB, Obama, Romney, Santorum, and Newt. No, the country would absolutely not be better off. That deal was sealed nearly a decade ago when this country decided to over-extend itself in terms of foreign affairs. We will be paying that deficit and the Obama deficit for years to come. None of these guys are going to undo the damage of GWB and Obama…they are all incompetent clowns, at best. The same with McCain in his time.

According to figures last night, there was 5% Democratic vote for Santorum. Every vote counts and now in 2 states where the Dems schemed to hurt Romney, he still won. Obviously enough of us are informed and do truly believe in Romney.

I am more Conservative than you will ever be able to understand, and I support Romney. I want to beat the Communist, Obama, and I think Romney can do it. Don’t get me wrong though, I like Santorum, Paul, and even Newt. All of the Republican candidates are better people than Obama.

“Communist”…love it! Another brainwashed republican. Yes, Obama is a train wreck, but your hyperbole is nonsensical at best. The problem is that Santorum, Paul, Romney, and Newt are nothing more than a four-headed clown. They will be fodder for Obama because they are absolutely, positively, unequivocally NO better than Obama. Hell, they aren’t even as good as GWB and that is saying something! Your post is drivel, at best.

Chip: Idiot…a win is a win!!!!!! You win the super bowl by 1 point…your the champs. Rick didn’t even get to keep a lot of those deligates because he failed to file proper paper work. Romney is steady and strong.

Where does this come from? Every time I read a comment like this I’m puzzled. Why label them “MSM?” Are you advocating a divisive form of prejudice against an outlet of free speech? Do people not have the ability to read the news and dicipher what it really means anymore? I guess if you label it and decide “That’s bad” that’s a good way to close yourself off from the whole discussion and that would make all the decisions in life a lot easier. I for one want to understand it all and make my own decision.

I spent last evening March 6 watching NBC’s coverage of Super Tuesday and would like to thank Brian Williams, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory and other guest commentators for providing state by state coverage. They were for the most part diligent in trying to cover each primary. Yet their anti-Romney bias came through in the analysis. Phrases were obviously slanted negatively and a person was hard pressed to find any positive comment about Mitt Romney who will oppose the President more than likely in November.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mitt’s wife Ann, they verbalize few if any positive comments about Mitt while the Democratic President and his consultants-staff are often complimented on the same telecast. An obvious bias for others than Mitt comes through to the listener.

Bias can be contrived or occur incidentally from any reporter. As an Evangelical and Republican I am biased in that I support Mitt Romney, a great candidate for the highest office in the land. I join Ann in admitting my support for Mitt while detecting media criticism for her husband, may the media admit to their bias for today’s President as well, THAT’S ONLY FAIR. WHERE IS EDWARD R. MURROW WHEN WE NEED HIM?

Ablubud: Why do you say that. The following high power (that is, having a high conservative following) individuals are for SANTORUM: Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingram, and Levin, And, Kristol and Palin are for GINGRICH.

Besides your theory of Corporation Party candidate is wrong. If every CEO is behind Romney it still not enough to win (they can however, offer a lot of money).

Quit your underdog, “man against the machine mantra,” and be a true conservative! Say “i suck” because you suck, not because it is someone’s fault.

BTW-Read the 10th Amendment. It talks alot about why “romneycare” is okay for a STATE to do. Besides, Romney got the idea from NEWT, who is the now known to be the KING OF FLEETING ideas.

Alan I agree. Mitt’s business and leadership experience make him an excellent choice. After hearing that the republican leadership wanted him my first thought was, because after choosing some non winners they have finally wised up. Then I started to wonder who in the world is this “leadership” that chose him? I can’t find them anywhere! Almost everything I read and listen to is anti-Romney. Go Mitt!

Also–speaking of Ann Romney–I heard her interview with Cavuto when she said she measured wealth in terms of friends and family and that monetary wealth could disappear–the Wash Post did a whole piece of how out of touch she was, she was rich, admit it, etc. A thousand comments! Their wealth did not hold back cancer, death of a child, a chronic disease (she has MS), etc. I think they see this–maybe better than less well off people.

There was also the time that Romney closed the doors of Bain Capital for several days while he and the whole staff fanned out around New York City, trying to find the missing daughter of one of his senior staff members. He decided that finding his employees kid was the most important thing he needed to be doing that week. Romney is a good man with good values, who happens to also be good at making money, something we all wish for and should admire when we see it in other people. What are we on this planet for, if it is not procreation and the pursuit of our own well being? Are we here to spend our lives as servants to whatever government claims control over us? Hell no, we are dad gum Americans, and we should be proud of being able to point to success stories like Mitt Romney. Get over the silly envy. I am happy for Mitt to be wealthy. It shows my kids that they can do it, too. It is too late for me, but at least I have had my chance to pursue my own path through life and I don’t want Obama and his “social justice” schemes to ruin that opportunity for my kids. ABO2012

Yes, an excellent analysis. The one thing I agree with most of the conventional punditry is that the current Republican primary process is damaging the eventual candidate. I’m to the right of Ann Coulter and I’m also for Mitt Romney as the most conservative candidate in the race who actually has a chance of beating BO. And Santorum and Gingrich are not part of the Republican Establishment??? Their entire lives in Congress (yes, and no executive experience at all). Romney is conservative in character and in history. And Gingrich attacks him for Bain Capital while Gingrich took money from Freddie. Puhleeze. And one last thing: Please, Fox News. Retire Mrs. Palin. She has nothing new to say, period. I mute her like I do Bill O’Reilly — both pontificating wind bags we can do without.

I completely agree. The mute button is on at the same time in my house! I do very much like Brit Hume. He and Krauthammer are the only commentators on Fox who support Romney, and their analysis of this entire primary season is by far the best, in my opinion, you will find on Fox. The new proportional delegate distribution was a horrible idea and has given new life to this primary dragging out for months to come.

I change the channel to CNN. I am so sick of her. At one time I supported her but that was before she sold out to the almighty dollar. She has been the go to for the gop andthe tea party for 4 years and made millions from it. If Mitt wins, he is the head of the party and her big bucks go bye bye.She is backing Newt knowing he will never beat Obama. She is literally BANKING on an Obama win. Why Fox Newt Channel keeps giving her air time I will never know. She is a money grubbing sleeze who thinks Americans are idiots and will believe anything she tells them,,The people who still follow her are lemmings.

Romney is about as conservative as his supporter Donald Trump. Romney is a “well-lubricated weather vane” as another supporter of his, Jon Huntsman, once said. The only proof I need that Romney is an imposter is the fact that every establishment Republican in the country has jumped on the Romney bandwagon. By the way, the Palin Derangement Syndrome is a dead ringer for leftists and establishment Republicans.

Fox acts the same way towards Romney. As a Romney supporter, it is quite irritating to constantly have his wins diminished with such weak analysis. I live in Ohio and Santorum was ahead by double digits a week or so ago, so a Romney win here is indeed a big deal. Romney wins 6 out of 10, I believe he came in second in the other states, collects over 200 delegates, yet he is “weak.” Good grief!

Because we’re Messin’ with Mitt. If we keep his numbers low you all have to continue with this farce of showing you have no solutions to the challenges the country faces. You show you have no compassion toward those less fortunate then yourselves. You show how patriarchal and dogmatic the GOP has become and how you have not moved into the 20th century let alone the 21st.

Joe, you were doing fine with your rant until you got to the part about the 20th century. Communism can’t even work at any level beyond the family clan or a small tribe and you would advocate following the Democrats down that road because they claim that they are more compassionate? How can a regression toward the most primitive economy be called modern or progressive? Call us heartless until the cows come home, but know the dirty little secret that government will run out of other people’s money to spend, and then what will you have?

Couple weeks ago I saw Megyn Kelly, Hannity etc. discredit Santorum’s win as beauty contest… over and over, they kept saying “beauty contest”. Why is it not a beauty contest when Romney wins primaries that are non-binding?

This is EXCATLY the point: “Romney is being widely panned by the press for an “inability to close the deal,” and yet the description seems far more apt for Santorum, who now has blown huge leads in the most critical contests of recent weeks, Ohio and Michigan. If anything, the more voters look at Santorum, the more concerned they become and less likely they are to sign on the dotted line.”

If Romney is so weak, why can’t Santorum, Paul, or Gingrich close the deal? This primary has become ANYONE BUT Santorum, Paul, or Gingrich because each are weak. The common thread among the three? They OPINE way to much, and search for (mindless) sycophants!

Excellent article! Even though I like Santorum, I’m beginning to focus on who might have the best chance to beat the Grifter-In-Chief, as I’m still undecided who I will vote for in our primary here in Pa.

The Republicans can ill afford another 3rd party candidate as we had with Ross Perot in ’92. A third party candidate means re-election for BO, for sure, and that may be what he’s planning. A vote for Trump is a vote for BO.

Thanks for telling it like it is… the negativity of the various talking heads, especially on CNN is amusingly transparent… sadly, even Fox has fallen into this tabloid approach to news coverage of this primary season…I’m flabbergasted at how negative every media outlet is regarding the positive results Romney continues to rack up…

jjones42: Why is it that Santorum (and his sycophants) always say the same thing: “We were outspent?” Isn’t that what Obama is going to do? If Sanctamonium can’t win based on his ideas, what does that say about Santorum???

BTW: What the deal with this “underdog” man against the machine mentality we are now seeing among conservatives. Be a TRUE conservative and accept responsibility and move on…seriously, by throwing around this attitude, your deflating your arguments!

Remember, not only is Romney battling against his 3 primary opponents, but he’s also up against the Obama Super PAC, the entire MSM, even the GOP pundits. He has to spend more just to help even the playing field. He’s the only one that can beat Obama in the Fall.

He’s also the most qualified man to run for president in decades. Think about it…at a time when the economy is in shambles, someone who has a record of turning around failing organizations is running for office. He’s exactly what America needs right now. What experience or skill do Santorum or Gingrich have that would make anyone think they’d be able to turn around the economy? They’ve got zero experience. Choose a true leader. Vote Romney

Do you realize that Romney was down here in Ohio by double digits about 8 days ago? Do you realize that Democrats, once again, came to vote for Santorum by at least 5%? I live in Ohio and it is largely blue collar and evangelical, so by all accounts it had the ability to hand Santorum a landslide victory. We, so-called “Rombots” notice many things, are well informed and will support Romney all the way to defeat Obama. Santorum should have prepared better with money, support, etc. Romney is organized, well backed, well prepared. Whether you like him or not, at least he came into this game prepared to fight.

@jjones242 Laura just wasted any point you were trying to imply and your retort is:

“Her certainly came prepared to buy the primary, that’s for sure.”

You can no longer be taken seriously. How does someone buy an election? Are you implying that being well organized and spending money raised by a campaign to promote that campaign is somehow unethical? I am certain that no one received a fee from the campaign to vote in their favor. So the basic fact that Romney came from behind in less than a week, in an open primary that saw 5% of his closest opponent’s support come from Democrats means he bought the state? You’re delusional.

Laura So correct on so many points. People have to realize that blaming Santorum’s lack of results on money won’t cut it this fall. Obama has more money in his re-election coffers than anybody (enough to feed the starving in many third world countries….). The liberals will use every penny of it and every dirty tactic known to man to win this election. The republican candidate needs to be prepared and able to stand against it.

Palin? Seriously? If that’s a BIG WIN for NEWT, then NEWT is in big trouble. He didn’t even do well in AK! BTW, he has ONLY won two states (GA and SC) and finished THIRD in two SOUTHERN STATES. Is this his “Southern Strategy”?

@Sparky She simply voted for him on Super Tuesday. She endorsed him about two months ago. Your game-changing, huge headline is old news and it did nothing for Newt’s campaign.

Who is this Republican elite that chose Romney? From what I can see, the establishment is trying their hardest to prop up anyone else… and Santorum or Newt, career politicians and lobbyists, are the only ones that are left of their many attempts. Go search for which elites “chose” Romney and you will find that your premise is wrong.

If Romney did not outspend his opponents 65:1 in Florida, 6:1 in Michigan, who knows how many times more in Ohio… he would continue his losing streak as liberal Republican who lost to John McLame in 2008. I guess you can buy an election after all.

Yea, we should take all of the money Romney has earned in donations and preparation and distribute it evenly amongst all 4 candidates (especially Newt and Santorem). Why should he benefit from all of his hard work of running a national campaign. Newt and Santorem has worked hard in a few chosen states too. Does Romney actually think he has a right to his own money?

This argument about Romney’s spending is ridiculous. Do you know how much money Obama has raised so far this cycle? It dwarfs even what Romney has raised. If Santorum and Gingrich can’t compete against Romney’s money, how are they possibly going to compete against Obama’s money?

Remember, not only is Romney battling against his 3 primary opponents, but he’s also up against the Obama Super PAC, the entire MSM, even the GOP pundits. He has to spend more just to help even the playing field. He’s the only one that can beat Obama in the Fall.

He’s also the most qualified man to run for president in decades. Think about it…at a time when the economy is in shambles, someone who has a record of turning around failing organizations is running for office. He’s exactly what America needs right now. What experience or skill do Santorum or Gingrich have that would make anyone think they’d be able to turn around the economy? They’ve got zero experience. Choose a true leader. Vote Romney

For some strange reason, you left out foxnews.com from your list, perhaps because it does not fit with your effort to paint only moderate to liberal reporters with this alleged bias. At any rate, foxnews.com’s banner headline is “Romney’s Night — But No Knockout,” which is perfectly consistent with all the news sources you did list. So, maybe, the headline is accurate and maybe your own contrary view is the wrongheaded and biased one. ;)

I agree that Fox is getting overbalanced with libs and sorta-libbies…so many now…Shep (supposed news, what a joke), Folbaum, Cavuto is now “devil’s advocating” all the time, that Elihu or whatever her name is woman, Powers, Colmes yawn, Judy Miller, Ellen Ratner, some Baier panel regs, even O’Reilly saying “Romney is not a greedhead” when no one used that term but him, on and on–the conservatives or thoughtfuls over there are thinning. Goldberg is a bore.

You believe this, right? I think you might be letting emotion get the better of reason. A personal fantasy of what you and your coworkers would like to see. A paranoid view of a conspiracy by the MSM to get Obama re-elected and the fact that you and your gang of minions won’t let happen. Yeehaw. “A lot of people”. I love a good anecdotal argument, it’s always so statistically significant.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the “liberal” MSM…that’s hyperbolic hogwash. The news is now about sensationalism. The primaries are nothing more than a sporting event. It’s about keeping viewers/readers/listeners…painting the picture of a contested race. The calls of “lefty/liberal” MSM and even suggesting Fox as shifting toward the left is nothing more than thoughtless gibberish. The headline isn’t accurate and the MSM isn’t playing some “liberal” game…they are marketing. It’s a business. It’s not about everyone’s brainwashed biased notion that the media is out to get them and their clan. Good grief. The primaries are the Super Bowl, nothing more, nothing less. Not a MSM conspiracy.

Obama is sitting back believing his MSM minions and relaxing. This kind of false hope is one of the many things that will get him in the end. I can’t wait to see the reaction when he finally realizes he’s gone. There are a lot of people that are not buying into the hype. There just waiting to vote him out. Those are the people that will be Obama’s undoing. It will also be interesting when the MSM realizes that they can’t control the message and are just another sad infomercial.

That idiot Chris Matthews even makes fun of Romney’s jeans, so you know they will have a field day between now and November. Chris Matthews looks something like an albino bulldog, replete with spit-flecked jowls, so how he can afford to ridicule a nice-looking guy like Romney is hard to understand. And you never hear Matthews make fun of Obama’s girlie throwing motion, bony physique, or Peewee Herman cycling wear. Willful blindness.

Afraid of WHAT!! Have you been following the news lately?? This guys is nothing but a fake and a phony. A wolf in sheeps clothing,and he will lie his way to the presidency, then u guys who are so “conservative” will stick your heads in your a** because you will be ashamed of what he stands for but will not dear say a word. He is an oppourtunist just like Palin. Palin is about money he is about legacy. Just want to do what his dad could not do. Everything he says is a lie, he was for everything before he was against it. Sorry “I am severly conservative.” Is that a case of the flu?? I can’t wait till the primary is over and they begin to expose his lies. He will be happy to know that he still have his BA in the Caymans..lol

Santorum just doesn’t know how to give a closing speech and I believe it is going to cost him future votes. Santorum’s speech could be summed up as I’m going to return the power to the people. That is very vague. Romney and Gingrich got it right by summarizing what they will do for the people specifically so it is fresh in the minds of the people why they should vote for that candidate. Gingrich definitely shows himself as the best candidate to defeat Obama in the debates and that is priceless.

Yes…they are trying to paint the picture of a contested race…they are trying to sell papers and garner listeners and viewers. They are marketing. It’s a business. They are turning the primaries into a sporting event. It has nothing whatsoever to do with some “liberal” agenda. It has everything to do with making money. Good grief.

[…] Despite winning the majority of the contests, including the big one in the Buckeye State, most outlets are reporting it as a mixed day for Romney, and at least one blogger is calling MSM out for it. […]

The MSM is always sniping and belittling Romney because he is the one they fear will actually run against their messiah. It soothes their nerves to downplay his potential. Its their misguided way of trying to help Santorum who they know they could beat in November.

Romney and Paul. Good team. Romney can take care of the inflation and jobs issue and Paul can fix the government issues. Now, if the people will give them control of the House and Senate maybe, just maybe, we can get out of this criminal environment and put the USA back on track. But first the people will have to get rid of the current batch of moderate Senators and Representatives and vote in Conservatives. If Romney does not honor his commitments then dump him next time around.

I am also somewhat perplexed of the lukewarm headlines. Romney is not charismatic but he might be what is needed now, a solid American businessman who can ,hopefully, calm and unite the country. The economy and the jobs must be the main focus in this election and Romney can defeat Obama here. He is the opposite of Obama in many ways. Oh, and Mitt Romney and his wife Ann will be a great First Couple.

I agree–in part the press fears lack of drama–Romney may not warble the blues, scarf everything in sight, have nightly chocolate milk bashes, flap his hands down plane stairs, bound around on stage, show the ivories (and the gums), and just generally provide pix and captions–instead he may be crunching numbers, dragging in experts and milking their expertise, quietly axing superfluous govt programs and agencies, back channeling with allies and enemies alike, consoling us in time of trouble, and you know—working…

I am also a Romney supporter. I think most on Fox are very biased against Romney. He won 72% of the vote in Mass. Not one mention of it and if any,I did not hear it. I personally can not imagine myself voting for Santorum. Newt is just out of the question. I hate his class warfare. I hated his Bain ad. He is narcissistic and creepy!

No kidding. Mitt won his home state by a significantly larger margin than Newt won in his home state. But for some reason, it is far more meaningful for Newt’s campaign that he won Georgia. There are so many inconsistencies is the way these results are reported that anyone who wasn’t following closely would think this nomination race’s complexion was a lot different than it actually is.

Let’s cut through the fog of masses of meaningless words and “reports.”

If Mitt is the candidate of the Republican (sic) party, he will have his posterior handed to him in the general election, just like McCain, and just like Bob Dole. He has the attitude of entitlement, just as his predecessors. And he is entitled…. to lick his wounds all the way back to Massachusetts or Michigan or whereever he chooses. But he will NOT occupy the White House come January of 2013. We are on a path to socialism that will not be thwarted by any moderate nice guy. But it seems that America no longer can stomach a warrior. So we will deserve what we get. Very sad.

My statement is simple. Mitt has the face, he has the hair, he has the family, he has the pedigree, he has the organization, and he has loads of money. In most circumstances politically, that equates to victory. He smothered all his competition with tv ads in both Michigan and Ohio. So far it is working… for HIM, but not for US. He will buy his way to the nomination, assuming that neither Rick nor Newt will quit the race and support the survivor. But to date, that will not happen. Both have grandiose ideas of their own importance, and neither will throw his support to the other. That’s a fact, Jack! So Mitt wins, even though 60% of Republican vote against him. In the general election, 60% of America will vote against him. He is uninspiring and flacid. Hence the statement that Obama will hand him his a$$. And we are just stuck. I would love to see Newt and Obama head to head in a debate. But sadly, that opportunity, practically speaking, just will not happen. November 6 will be one of America’s saddest days.

I can see where you are coming from on the points you have made, but there was one statement in there that makes me crazy. I, too, would love to see Newt debate Obama, but not as a nominee. He has too much baggage and his great ideas are either the work of a committee or strictly academic. Either way, as a leader, Newt is not practical. The fact that 99% of his supporters only support him because they believe that he is a true conservative who would embarrass Obama in a debate. Truth is that he is a big government Republican as evidenced throughout his whole career… “my big government is better than yours” is essentially his mantra.

Next, his debate performances started to make way to his lack of substance. A debate is the worst place to say: “I won’t answer that here, check my campaign’s website in the morning.” As soon as someone states something he hadn’t foreseen, he bumbles, fabricates and deflects until the staffers and committee can amply devise an answer for him.

It isn’t only the msm, you can include NewsMax in that group. I have been amazed at how Santorum and Gingrich complain about Drudge being biased, and then one can go to NewsMax and it is the most anti-Romney rag I have ever seen. It seems to me NewsMax is working for both Gingrich and Santorum.

We are on the verge of losing the greatest Republic in the history of the world. This election is going to be a choice between Communism and Freedom. PLEASE get out and vote regardless of who the GOP nominee is. Right now it looks like Obama is going to win, and we will have a 20 trillion dollar national debt by 2016, and we can say goodbye to our freedom. Turnout is the only thing that is going to prevent this from becoming a bankrupt Communist State within the next five years. As Ann Coulter said, Jeffery Dahmer would be better than what we have. This is going to be the most important election in the history of the United States, and possibly the last. It is going to be so close, that turnout will determine if we remain free, or become a Communist state.

In my opinion there are two things we need to do to get our country back. Please consider the following:

By voting for Senator Santorum in Michigan and Ohio, the Democrats proved they are scared to death to run against Mitt Romney, therefore in order to win, I believe it would be to our advantage to nominate Romney for president.

Senator Marco Rubio has more potential that any Republican I have seen since President Ronald Reagan. If he were the Vice Presidential nominee, he would bring at least 50% of the Hispanic vote and the state of Florida.

If you want your country back, I would like to encourage you to go to the link below and implore Senator Rubio to accept the vice presidential nomination if it is offered to him. He has in his hands the potential to save the country we loved so much, and would make an excellent president in 2020. Sixteen years of good leadership would make the United states once more the shining light of freedom on the hill, that it had been for 233 years before the election of Barrack Hussein Obama.

Let’s not make the mistake of nominating the wrong candidate this time, like we did in 2008, that allowed a wannabe dictator to take over this country. If we make the same mistake this time, we won’t get another chance.

Great article, but I totally disagree with you Keith. The establishment Republicans rigged the game with the thoughts their guy would have this all wrapped up before Super Tuesday. That’s why we’re seeing all the caucuses rather than elections. Their tricks worked in 2008 with McCain, but things aren’t going so smoothly for them in 2012.

Romney didn’t score any crushing victory. The six states he won: Massachusetts, Vermont, Idaho, Virginia, Alaska, and Ohio. He squeaked out a victory in Ohio where he overspent Santorum and Gingrich 6 to 1 with the most negative campaign ads imaginable. He won another one of his home states, Massachusetts, but there is no way in heck a Republican will win it in November. Same with Vermont. Idaho has a heavy Mormon population. Virginia was a joke…there were only two people on the ballot. He barely squeaked by Santorum in Alaska as well.

Wherever he goes, Romney is depressing the vote with his negativity. That is not a good predictor for the general if he should win the nomination. I sure hope he doesn’t. I’m torn between Santorum and Gingrich. My heart tells me Santorum would make the best president, but my head tells me Gingrich. We’ll see what Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas have to say. No way Romney has a chance in those states unless he barrages the airwaves with more negative ads.

Negativity? What about Santorum negatively affecting independents votes with his inability to control his thoughts. And, Newt’s self-important “30 minute special” on gas prices. Moreover, why is “negative” when Romney goes after each for their previous votes and “not negative” when Santorum and Ginrich goes after Romney’s record.

There is a DISEASE that has crept into the conservative mind. You know what it is? The underdog, “man against the machine mantra.” Personally, I am VERY tired of it. Obama uses it often as does many leftists. Be a true conservative! Say “i suck” because you suck, not because it is someone’s fault.

Tell your candidate to SEAL THE DEAL. But, he can’t. You want to know why? Because he sucks!

Susan: Mitt is a businessman. Do you think that he will spend resources to attack Santorum if Santorum didn’t attack first?????

Santorum started with the negativity against Romney way before he unleashed on him.

Answer my question: why don’t you say that Santorum has caused the negativity (and not Romney)? Or, why don’t you say Perry caused the negativity. What about when Santorum started the negativity against Newt? Calling him “Gradiose”??????

History has a way of unraveling poor arguments…therefore, know your history!!!!!!! All you have done is repeat what a flawed human, Santorum, like the rest of us, has said.

Talk about being played by the GOP elite. It’s Romney’s “turn” now be good little voters and it (and socialized medicine!) happen!

Romney is ObamaLite. A rinsed and blow dried down version of Dear Leader. The salient point of the US dismantlement into full third world status is ObamaCare which IS A FEDERAL VERSION of RomneyCare. At a minimum, Romney as opponent of Obama TAKES OBAMACARE OFF the debate table. No matter what Myth says…he IS responsible for the plan )and the advisors who gladly visited the Obama White House to “guide” the implementation of ObamaCare. Period.

When ObamaCare passed, if the GOP Elite cared about the Country a visit should have been paid to Mr. Romney, and he should have been told “sorry Mitt, your too tied up win this socialized medicine that we MUST DEFEAT for the good of the Country, step aside.”. But nah…the it’s Mitt’s turn… And here we are.

With the warchest Romney has, and with outspending Santorum twenty to one in Ohio (and be honest…not ads saying anything other than “Romney, private sector, look over there, Santorum, no birth control”) he ONLY WON BY ONE PERCENT over Santorum!!!

Romney’s 2009 op-ed in in USA Today imploring Obama to adopt the Massachusetts health insurance mandate over the public option sealed the deal for me. My husband and I were attending Tea Party protests against Obama’s health care plans at the same time Romney was touting an unconstitutional health insurance mandate for America. He is lying straight to our faces when he says he never endorsed a national mandate and nobody wants to see it.

So many people have bought the false premise that Romney is the only one who can beat Obama. They are covering their ears and yelling la..la…la…la I can’t hear you whenever the subject of Obamacare and it’s predecessor Romneycare are brought up.

Romneycare began as NEWT’s idea in the 1990s. All conservatives thought it was better than an entire government run program (remember Hillarycare?)! Then, we had an awareness that it is no better!

BOTH NEWT AND ROMENY THOUGHT IT WAS A BETTER OPTION THAN THE ALTERNATIVE IN 2006! If Mitt did say it should be on extended to the federal level, then he, like Newt, should apologize and move on. I think he has but YOU just hate him. What Establishment are you a part of? =)

Besides, doesn’t Mitt continually say he will repeal it? Isn’t that what all the other candidates are also saying? Therefore, he, like the rest are on one accord. If he and the rest do not do it, VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE.

But, for some reason you believe “Take one for the Team” Santorum and not Romney? WHY??????

Or, you support, “My mind is playing tricks on me” Newt in his position change over Romney. WHY????

I am a constitutional conservative who has always voted Republican. This election may be the last time I do that. Santorum never supported a mandate. Newt did support a mandate and admitted it was wrong and unconstitutional. Romney enacted a liberty stealing mandate in Massachusetts, he still stands by it, and now claims he never suggested it should go national. That is until several 2009 videos and articles of him advocating the mandate be nationalized came to light. Romney lied to my face about his endorsement of a national mandate and he has yet to address the conflicting videos and articles. I don’t believe Romney’s promises to repeal Obamacare. One of Romney’s advisers, Norm Coleman, said publicly Obamacare wouldn’t be fully repealed under a Romney administration. I believe Norm Coleman believed what he was saying.

The problem with your mindset on this is that Romneycare is the opposite of Obamacare. Romneycare increased the number of plans and improved each individual’s number of choices. It also found a way to keep the freeloaders from sucking up tax dollars whenever they were in an accident, by assessing a fine or a fee. Additionally it is on a state level, the level at which the 10th Amendment validates its constitutionality.

Obamacare does the exact opposite. It forces specific providers out of the market and reduces the number of plans available to people. It increases bureaucracy and costs and it provides a mechanism leading to single-payer healthcare. It is unconstitutional and socialistic.

Obama was going to do this anyway, regardless of a USA Today op-ed. Romney’s aim by writing it was to tell Obama that a free-market approach is better, and here’s how I know, etc. Romney taking the time to try and encourage Obama away from the socialistic approach, in favor of the way they did it in MA was a patriotic thing to do. It would have addressed the issues of healthcare providers being stiffed by illegals or the uninsured without leading to socialized medicine and a larger tax burden on the productive of society. That is conservatism and that is why Romney is not the big lib all of you and the fallen talk radio hosts keep telling yourselves he is.

Mr. Romney’s big government health care program is not my idea of patriotism. His very own Romneycare consultants, Jonathan Gruber and John McDonough helped write both laws. Romneycare spawned the evil Obamacare.

The details are important. Liberals who helped in MA are liberals first. Of course they can say that there are similarities between the two laws. People can even work on both laws without one being a mirror of the other. Their coming forward and making these statements is a leftist attempt to discredit Mitt to his base. They understand the anti-Mitt crowd and know how to delude them.

Healthcare has many facets and legislation dealing with it will naturally have overlapping topics, but look at what the laws are and on what level they are implemented. Name dropping a bunch of leftists only illustrates that you have the same dislike of Romney that liberals have.

@Susan, he’s also won many conservative states so far, too… What does this prove? They are all Republican primaries. Please note, though, in each of the states where actual liberals have voted, they have voted for Santorum, or more accurately, against Romney. Why? Look at the exit polls. Try to disagree with my points before resorting to non-sequitur, uninformed claims that are not verified by the data available.

PLEASE READ THE 10th AMENDMENT. States can passes legislation like the Mass Health Plan. The Federal gov’t can’t.

Why does “Romney as opponent of Obama TAKES OBAMACARE OFF the debate table”? Just because Santorum says so?????? Romney can simply say, the people of Massachusetts wanted a state-level health plan. Instead of a state agency running the program, I chose a more conservative route. As a result, we came up with the individual mandate. Then, he can say that the 10th Amendment affords the state this policy. However, the US Constitution DOES NOT afford the same policy right on a FEDERAL LEVEL!!!

Many state programs have been INCORRECTLY copied at the FEDERAL level. That is WRONG. I wouldn’t favor a State mandate here is Texas, but people in Massachusetts did! They also favored gay marriage.

I don’t care if you vote for Romney. I DO care that you repeat pundit talk, and Santorum speak (i.e. “Romney as opponent of Obama TAKES OBAMACARE OFF the debate table”). I especially care that you, as a conservative, do not know the Constitution!

Maybe Mr. Romney needs an update on the Tenth Amendment. He SENT his advisors (many of whom are still associated with HIS campaign) to the Obama White House to advise the Obama Administration on how to apply Romney Care federally in the “Affordable Care Act” ie., ObamaCare.

Yes. FACTS are pesky things.

Romney and his “team” fingerprints are all over ObamaCare and there is NO separation between the two due to Romney’s political willingness to glom onto ObamaCare when he thought it was politically expedient to do so. Now that polling shows Americans do not want “ObamneyCare” he is backing off.

The most amazing news to me last night was not a result of the Republican primaries but in one Democratic one. Kucinich went down to defeat, this proves there is a God in Heaven and He still cares. One more Socialist hits the floor batter up!

Exactly, what I thought when I was reading the news this morning, including the TV stations… Santorum blew leads in two states and lost both the popularity vote and delegate votes… Furthermore, the news media don’t want to report that even in some of the states that he was on the ballot, he failed to get the threshold to get ANY delegates… Of course, that would not keep the media circus machine going….

It’s not only the lefty MSM downplaying Romney’s victory, it’s the right too. I know we’ve Mitt is the right candidate judging the amount of crap he’s taking from all sides. Mitt will be our nominee, he’s the best and only choice, he can and will defeat Obama and will be a wonderful president. Rush, Levin, Palin, Hannity and all the left can eat their shorts.

“No comment” girly1 agreed, but what’s even worse is PRESENT when your a tax paid elected official….Ummm I’ll go with no comment from a yet to be elected official who now must deal with a media venue who is eager to re-elect PRESENT.

I saw that in the Wash Post and in our AZ Republic….always a “yes…but.” So slanted if makes my teeth grow hair. I haven’t read all the comments here yet–but I am sure there will be the usual “he is not enough of a conservative for my liking” digs.

Great work Mr. Koffler! Brit Hume, in Fox news last night was commenting that there were a great amount of democrats that voted for Santorum in Ohio. Somehow I don’t think that the call Santorum had made to democrats in Michigan lasted that long. I am of the opinion that somehow Mr. O’s campaign is trying to get Romney out of the way, trying to favor Santorum, someone that in their opinion can be easily defected. I’m no Romney fan, but as Mr. Keith is correctly pointing the MSM is downplaying Romney’s achievements in the presidential race. It is good to remember as well that Romney has proved to be winning not because he is a popular guy but because he is running a very well organized campaign, and according to Hume, in references to the many years Romney has been campaigning it only prove the hard work and time Romney has devoted to this campaign, a thing that shows that he really is up to the Job behind the big desk.

In other words, the guy shows up, carpet bombs everyone who opposes him and we are supposed to be impressed? With all the millions and all the Stablishment in the world, Romney has not been able to get the Base of the party´s vote. Even at Fox, Santorum does not have a single pundit talking in his behalf. It is all rigged, however, Santorum keeps winning… with no money, no endorsements, but with the votes of the Base!

Why can NONE of them wrap this up, including Romney? Because none of them are real conservatives. That is the reason why. Thus, they are constantly splitting up the votes.

If people as a whole were wise as the mightiest of the mighty, the mighty Boa is, they would have made it clear to the GOP, run a REAL candidate, or lose the whitehouse to O’Bozo and both houses to the marxists. Illegal immigrants are one of the biggest problems facing this economy and not a single one of these clowns will pledge to deport them. They continue to pander to them, foolishly believing they’re going to win the “hispanic” vote. Instead, the marxists will win it, PLUS the votes of the illegals. The illegals continue to draw money from various programs, including social security. Yet AMERICAN CITIZENS who have been forced to pay into this program for 40 and 50 years are told THEY need to accept cuts because there isn’t enough money. In addition, they keep the unemployment number inflated and also keep wages from rising naturally.

If none of these candidates is serious about addressing this problem, they won’t be any the more serious about any of the others. “Self deporation” is not an option as anyone with a brain knows that the marxists will work at every turn to circumvent any such efforts. The only answer is to physically remove them.

I am getting alittle worn out with all the spin from the media. Just looking at the numbers of the Ohio election with 99% counted, shows some interesting things. In 2008 Mitt got 34.978 votes in Ohio and the total vote count was 1,062,276. In 2012 Mitt got 453,927, increase of 14 times from the last time he ran, and the total vote count for 2012 was 1,194,873, 11% increase. The increase of voter participation comes from either two things, Operation Kaos to swing the vote or people who have activity become engaged, knowing the risks are to great to re-elect the current president. People want a change and the strength of the turnout is showing that. The numbers are showing that the dems have alot to worry about. There is a greater voter spread in favor of Reps vs dems nationally, Republican are up 5.8 compared to 2008 when nationally, the Demos were up 3.6. That is a huge swing of 9.4% which also reflects the increase turnout in Ohio. The pendulum is swinging back and it gives hope and change for the lovers of freedom